"dominos" news and stories

Muslims in three British cities can take Domino's off their speed-dial. It seems the pizza company thought that it could transform this Middle-East-meets-West culture clash into gold, but its plans failed miserably.

A year and a half ago, the pizza chain began offering halal-only menus at three of its outposts in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods of Birmingham, Bradford and Blackburn, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

But Domino's apparently overestimated the gusto with which Muslims would welcome the opportunity to order American-style pizzas topped with ingredients whose processing and preparation conform with Islamic law, while the absolute banishment of one Quranic taboo -- pork -- seemed to have alienated the stores' native British clientele.

The story ends (as so many of these stories do) with a corporate press release: "[The halal menu] hasn't had the impact expected and the company has reluctantly decided to return to a conventional Domino's menu in all three stores," quotes the Daily Telegraph.

First, Domino's decided their pizza was lame and told us about it. Now, in a continuing effort to open company doors to consumers, the pizza giant's newest marketing tactic is taking on none other than...marketing tactics.

In their newest commercial/campaign, Domino's takes us behind the scenes at a pizza photo shoot, where we can see all the time and preparation that goes into making a pizza commercial look good -- and, more importantly, into making the pizza itself look good.

Featured in this new three minute video is Margaret the Hand Model, who claims she's done "many cheese pulls" in her day. For the unfamiliar, a cheese pull is literally where the slice of pizza is pulled away from the pie, visually showcasing the cheese's elasticity and gooeyness. "It requires great concentration," Margaret goes on to say. "You have to know when the cheese is ready to be pulled. Just feeling the cheese. I breathe when I lift up."

If you've been fan of Domino's over the past 50 years, your judgment might be a little off. Perhaps you were charmed by the promise of 30 minute guaranteed delivery or the company's warm and fuzzy Midwestern backstory (it's based in Ann Arbor, Michigan), but you certainly weren't enjoying the pizza. The company's new philosophy is: "We changed our crust, sauce and cheese. And hopefully your mind."

So who was eating all that pizza? With more than 9,000 stores worldwide, of course Domino's had a few fans, but following a new US recipe launch in December of 2009, they've captured several thousand more.

Fast-food chains frequently add and change recipes to be "new and improved," but Domino's newest pie was accompanied by an almost subversive style of branding. The company launched a series of self-critical ads, including the documentary-style "Turnaround" commercial. We see Domino's employees' faces fall while watching brutally honest focus groups berate the cardboard-like crust and processed cheese. One test-kitchen chef explains the difficulty in facing such harsh commentary, having made the pizza for the better part of two decades.

• Alinea's Tasting Menu Expressed In Jelly Beans [Michele Humes]
• Jim Lahey Reviews The New Domino's Pizza [Ozereky.TV]
• David Chang on the Late Show With David Letterman [Eater]
• Starbucks Faces Challenges in Recycling Efforts [NRN]
• Can the Cooking Channel revamp food TV? [Salon]

Like many middle-agers, Domino's Pizza is undergoing a bit of cosmetic surgery.

The world's largest pizza delivery chain, celebrating its 50th year in the business in 2010, announced today it will be entirely changing its core pizza recipe.

"The fact is, we love our pizza, but as times change, so do consumer tastes," said Russell Weiner, Domino's chief marketing officer, in a statement. "We've created a pizza to reflect what consumers are looking for. We're not talking about a slightly altered version of our previous pizza. It's a completely new pizza reinvented from the crust up, and we are proud of it."